Surprise

Most days I do a word thing when I wake up. I choose a ‘word of the day’. Persevere has been the word over and over again since August 28th.  I’d get out of bed thinking, again? At night before I go to sleep I think about the word and see how it set the tone for the day or helped me navigate a situation or would have helped me if I had remembered to think about it.

Yesterday’s word was surprise. I’d never had that word before. I arrived at the dam for the dark sunrise dog walk before Jennifer. While standing on the dam looking down the hill, I heard this really odd sound, like something driving through the trees and hitting everyone of them, clack, clack, clack, loud. Of course it was really still quite dark. Rosie and I stood there staring into the black woods frightened and dumbfounded. Believe me, this is how the word of the day thing sometimes works, I was indeed, surprised.

The noise stopped, nothing came out of the woods at us and I figured it was probably a moose or a buck with a big itchy rack rubbing against the trees. Hmm, I thought, I got my word of the day out of the way early.

On with my busy day I went. I was at the gallery hanging outdoor winter lights when a fellow came up to me with a big camera on his shoulder.

http://www.wcax.com/story/16148274/wilmington-businesses-show-resilience

I chuckled when I went to bed last night, I guess the day had more surprises in store, on tv! I didn’t even fluff my hair.

Rising Up Again

 November mornings it seems as if the sun will not rise. The sun gets going so late, well after 6am. Today's slow motion sunrise seemed to go hand in hand with the oddity of rebuilding a village after a flood. Much as we are steadily working at remaking our lives, it seems almost like a miracle that it is actually happening.

Writing today from the new Reading Room at Bartleby's Books. Patty who works at the Red Mill and lives in Wilmington Village is here telling the story of the flash flood. For the first time since the flood I can tolerate listening to someone telling the story of how rising water went from inches below our highest levels to many feet over the high water mark in a matter of minutes.

It is amazing that we are not 90 days out and many buildings have been rebuilt, roads are functional and we are going on.